Doherty stifles South

In football, sometimes the best way to get over a bad loss is to go out the following week and do unto others what has been done to you.

Such was the case last night at Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium, where Doherty rebounded in a big way from the shutout it suffered a week earlier to blank South High, 24-0 in nonleague action.

Even though you had Division 1 Doherty taking on Division 2 South, by kickoff none of that mattered.

“We knew South was going to come ready to play, they’re not afraid of us. The Division 1 versus Division 2 baloney, that’s what it is,” said Doherty coach Sean Mulcahy, whose team improved to 2-1. “We knew it was going to be a hard battle.”

And for the first half, it was, as the high-powered Highlanders were embroiled in a legitimate defensive struggle with the scrappy Colonels (1-2) and limited to a single touchdown.

But as is often the case, the game was a tale of two halves, as a big loss on South’s defensive unit allowed Doherty to make the appropriate adjustments in the second half and feast on the Colonels’ young linebacking corps.

“Defensively for the most part we’re pretty happy, and we played physical at the half,” South coach Jerry Snay said. “But (linebacker) Evan (Earls) going down right before the half changed our whole defensive set. We made some big mistakes in the second half, and to do that against a team as big and with as many weapons as Doherty has, you can’t afford to do that.”

The Highlanders took full advantage, turning two South miscues into quick points.

Doherty running back Zakee Jenkins rushed for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns to pace the Highlanders’ attack, while quarterback Yawin Smallwood rushed for 55 of his 61 yards in the second half and scored two touchdowns.

“(South) was frustrating us a bit in the first half, but we made some adjustments and we got a couple of big turnovers,” Mulcahy said. “After we got those scores, we were able to relax a bit.”

The Highlanders opened the second half with a nine-play, 73-yard drive that ended with Smallwood’s 1-yard keeper up the middle. Later, when Doherty was forced to punt, the kick was fumbled by South, and Jorge Ortiz recovered the ball for the Highlanders, who set up shop at the South 44.

Three plays later, Smallwood ran in from 24 yards out for the touchdown and an 18-0 lead.

Doherty’s secondary answered the call next, as Joe Goldstein picked off a Joe Brigham pass and ran it back 43 yards to the South 7. Doherty’s No. 7 took it from there, as Jenkins scampered in for his second touchdown.